 With over 100,000 confirmed cases in more than 130 countries and thousands of deaths globally, the coronavirus has taken the world by storm. Schools, companies, and even entire cities have been shut down in an effort to try and minimize the damage caused by this virus. In the midst of this chaos, many questions about what exactly this coronavirus is have risen. So in this video, we'll be tackling the basics of this microscopic monster. First things first, the coronavirus is not one specific type of virus. It's actually a family of viruses which includes the infamous SARS and MERS virus. The specific type of coronavirus you've been hearing about in the news recently is called the 2019 novel coronavirus. Coronaviruses are primarily present in animals such as cattle, horses, and especially bats. It's pretty rare for members of the coronavirus family to be transmitted from animals to humans, with the exception of a couple strains such as SARS, MERS, and most infamously COVID-19. The virus can spread through droplets released from an individual coughing or sneezing and person to person contact. Upon being infected with the virus, individuals often experience fever greater than 38 degrees Celsius in addition to coughing and shortness of breath, which is pretty similar to what is seen in patients with the influenza virus. Now, despite all the cases you're hearing about in the news, recent estimates found that the mortality rate of the virus was surprisingly low, about 2 to 3%. The danger the virus brings is that it poses a severe threat to the elderly and individuals with severe chronic diseases such as lung and heart disease as well as diabetes. In fact, one analysis of the reported deaths from early December 2019 to late February 2020 in Hubei, China found that the highest proportion of those deaths belonged to individuals who are 60 plus years old. This is why the world is locking down on this virus with many social distancing precautions to prevent corona from spreading to elderly patients with the weakened immune system who can't fight it off as easily as the youth. Other factors as well can influence how fast or slow a virus spreads, such as the weather. Although we aren't certain how the spread of the coronavirus is determined by environmental factors, it has been noted in other viruses such as the influenza virus that higher temperatures and more humidity hindered the transmission of the virus since more moisture in the air means airborne viruses don't have as clear a path to spread far. So maybe that could play a role in the transmission of this disease depending on which geographic area you live in, although further research in this area is required. So what's being done to fight this pandemic? Unfortunately as of the making of this video, there is no official vaccine or antiviral drug against the coronavirus, and contrary to whatever myth is going around, the flu vaccine unfortunately does not double as coronavirus protection, but scientists are working hard around the clock to come up with the vaccine. Additionally, there have been other interesting proposals for treatments against the virus. For instance, at Northeastern University, chemical engineer Thomas Webster proposed the idea of using nanoparticles in the fight against corona. The nanoparticles are basically attached onto the virus and through some combination with infrared light therapy disrupt the structure of the virus, preventing it from being able to infect hosts and reproducing them. Even better is the fact that nanoparticles can be sprayed onto contaminated surfaces and objects, therefore allowing us to theoretically destroy the virus before it can make its way into a host. Of course though, a lot more research is needed on this before this proposal can be turned to an actual method. While scientists and engineers are racing against time to curious of corona, you can follow basic rules such as washing your hands with soap and water, avoiding close contact with sick people, and perhaps most importantly staying at home when you're sick to minimize risk of spreading the disease to others. Anyways, I hope this video helped you understand some basic information about the coronavirus so you can be more well informed on the topic, and if there's anything more about the virus you want to know, share your thoughts in the comments below. If you found the video helpful, share it with your friends and family so they can learn more about it as well. And as always, stay safe and healthy and don't forget to stay tuned for more science videos.